Cumulative Impacts and Community Vulnerability Symposium

July 27, 2017Air Resources Board

California Environmental Protection Agency

Álvaro Alvarado, Ph.D.

Environmental Justice Screening Method

• Developed by Manuel Pastor, Rachel Morello-Frosch, Jim Sadd

• Under contract with Air Resources Board

• Research tool to identify hot spots and air quality trends

• Reflects published research on air pollution, environmental justice, and health

• Data transparent, publicly available• Reviewed by environmental justice groups, academic researchers• Statewide and regional scoring

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Screening Method Categories

• Exposure and Health Risk• State and federal data• Modeling from emissions inventories

• Hazard Proximity• ARB land use guidelines

• Social and Health Vulnerability• Based on epidemiological literature• EJ literature on community vulnerability

• Climate Vulnerability• Heat islands, temperature trend, vulnerability

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Hazard Proximity• Sensitive Receptors

• Residents, schools, day care centers, playgrounds, urban parks, and health care facilities

• Hazards• Hazardous landuse: Railroads, airports, ports, petroleum

refineries, and intermodal facilities, toxic cleanup sites• Large facilities: Green-house gas emissions >25 tons per year;

air toxics and criteria pollutants >10 tons per year• Small facilities: Chrome plating, auto paint & body shops, gas

stations• Hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facilities• Traffic density

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Land Use and Hazard Proximity Map

• Measure distance between sensitive receptors and hazards

• Score based upon number of facilities and distance from sensitive receptors 1000 feet = 1 2000 feet = 0.5 3000 feet = 0.1

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Image credit: Manuel Pastor, Rachel Morello-Frosch, Jim Sadd

Validating Big Data: Hazard Proximity

Validating Hazard Proximity Locations

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Image credit: Manuel Pastor, Rachel Morello-Frosch, Jim Sadd

Validating Hazard Proximity Locations

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Image credit: Manuel Pastor, Rachel Morello-Frosch, Jim Sadd

Validating Hazard Proximity Locations

• Near housing• Changes local hazard

proximity score

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Image credit: Manuel Pastor, Rachel Morello-Frosch, Jim Sadd

Validating Hazard Proximity Locations

• Large footprint of facility

• Better represented by area

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Image credit: Manuel Pastor, Rachel Morello-Frosch, Jim Sadd

US-Mexico Border

Statewide Scoring

• Hazard Proximityand

• Ozone, diesel PM, PM2.5, toxics

Regional Scoring

• Hazard Proximityand

• Ozone, diesel PM, PM2.5, toxics

US-Mexico Border: Improving Cumulative Impacts Mapping

• Improve accuracy of pollution burden at the US-Mexico border

• Contract with SDSU to create geospatial database of Mexican emission sources

• Low-cost sensor networks in Imperial Valley and San Ysidro

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Thank you